I’ve always enjoyed watching the flag of the United States of America unfurl and flow in the sky. I often feel a little patriotic pride whenever I pass a Perkins Restaurant as their large flag waves at me. While there isn’t a standard “Perkins flag size,” they often go for the most massive flag possible, at times exceeding 30 x 50 feet. It’s just beautiful! Additionally, my father’s military service fostered a sense of patriotism as he enlisted in the Navy in WWII and continued as a reservist for 25 years of military service. The flag given to my mother by the Navy Honor Guard at my father’s graveside is in its display case in my home.
My fascination for the U.S. flag likely developed from my grandfather coming to live with us when I was eight years old. He moved from California and must have left a flag behind. As a result of Big Pop’s request, my dad put up a rudimentary flagpole fashioned out of galvanized steel pipe with a pulley mounted on top and the halyard laced through it. He set the pole in a concrete-filled post hole, and a sturdy, stitched, 100% cotton flag flew from that 8-foot pole. Every morning my grandfather raised the flag and lowered it each evening. I often sat with him on the front porch and enjoyed our conversations, watching my Toy Fox Terrier chase squirrels and feel the gentle breeze as it lifted the flag in our shaded front yard.
We headed for church one Sunday morning before Big Pop raised the flag. A short time later, a church member arrived and, having passed our house on the way to church, asked if everything was okay at our home. Confused, my mother said, “Yes. Why do you ask?” He responded that the flag was flying upside down, a sign of distress. Mom quickly called to check on my grandfather, and the flag was right-side up when we returned home. In his remaining years, Big Pop never made that mistake again. After he died in 1969, we continued to raise the flag, but not with the consistency he did.
In my late twenties, I took a church position in Memphis and had the opportunity to move back into that childhood home. The flagpole still stood, and the flag was stored in the living room closet. I was astonished that the flag’s colors were still vibrant (likely from never flying in direct sunlight), and its stitching remained intact. It was a treat for my daughters to raise the flag occasionally. My wife began to make birthday flags to fly on the flagpole to commemorate each year’s noteworthy milestones. Unfortunately, at some point in our nine years in that home, a child (who will be nameless) was holding the halyard as she walked in circles and wrapped the rope around the pole. At some point, the fatigued metal at the base of the pole snapped, never to be reinstalled.
The old flag traveled with us to Iowa in 1994, and it continued to fly on holidays in special memory of my grandfather, whose hand so lovingly cared for it all those years ago. It last flew on July 4, 2024, but I forgot to bring it in that night. The next morning, I retrieved in only to find several tears and a large hole in the field of blue. I wrapped it back around its wooden pole and placed it in the closet to never fly again.
As Memorial Day approaches, I want to resume the tradition of flying the flag for at least the patriotic holidays. I researched and purchased a well-stitched and reinforced flag that is appropriately “Made in the U.S.A.” The flag arrived today, and it is on my deck railing. While the local V.F.W. and Boy Scouts have an annual flag retirement ceremony, I’m not sure I can let go of this cloth that is truly our family’s nearly 60-year-old “Old Glory.”
The new flag from Allegiance Flag Supply will hopefully give me another 60 years of patriotic good vibes. Well…I won’t push it that far.
Rural Iowa Pastor 